Why don't I have a credit score?

There's a few reasons why you might not have any numbers to your name

Many young adults don’t have credit scores

Third-party credit scoring providers have access to huge stores of data from various companies (mainly finance and utility companies). If they can’t find any data in their records that matches the details you’ve provided, they can’t generate a score.

Even if you have had power bills, credit cards, or other loans in your name, it may be that your credit scoring provider does not have access to your specific credit history. This is usually the case with very young people who have had few bills put in their name. Learn more about getting more credit history on your record may help you get a credit score.

When it’s not them, it’s you

Entering any details wrong (even down to the address you lived in three years ago) can prevent your data falling under your name and therefore making it impossible to generate a score. Similarly, if you’ve moved frequently in the last four years, or you have changed your name recently, the data might just not match up with your current details. If this is the case, it may be worth lodging an enquiry with one of NZ’s three credit reporting bureaus.

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More credit scoring FAQs

A credit score is a number assigned to people by complex algorithms. When a credit check is requested, these algorithms can search through massive databases and analyse your historical credit data to see how likely you are to make regular payments in the future. The higher the score, the better your credit rating is. Read more about credit scores and who calculates them.

Not all credit scores are measured on the same scale. Our credit scoring provider, Centrix, uses a scale of 0-1500. However, a scale of 0-1000 is most common. In this case, scores well below 450 can be considered “bad scores”, scores above 600 can be considered “good scores” and anything in-between is the norm. Find out how you’re affected by a good or bad credit score.

Your credit report is the more comprehensive list of what historical data is feeding into your credit score. This includes any accounts, enquiries, defaults, infringements, collection notices, judgements, insolvencies and other public record information.

There are three credit reporting bureaus in NZ, some of them offer instant credit scoring and reporting online for free. You can request a free report from any of them if you’d like to find out more about your credit history.